Summer, 1983 (I'll call you by mine)

Graduation Day

"Why am I nervous about this? It's Christopher graduating, not me?" Oliver rambled as he was trying to straighten his tie.

"Maybe the fact that your precious little baby boy who ran around naked the first 4 years of his life is not a baby anymore." Elio laughed, making Oliver do the same.

"He's never been a normal kid, he should still have a year left of high school but he's so damn smart he got to skip a year. It's too soon for him to go off to college."

"Oliver calm down, he's not even sure which one he wants to go to yet. He's got his choice of any top school, he's got a full ride to whichever one he wants. He made damn sure he got a scholarship so he didn't have to use his college fund right away."

"I know, but what if he chooses to go to Stanford? That's all the way across the country!" Oliver flops down on the bed.

"Oliver if he chooses Stanford then we will go and visit him as much as possible, but you never know he may choose Columbia." Elio tries to comfort him.

"He won't choose Columbia and you know why."

"I know, I know but we can still hope that he doesn't move that far."

In the school auditorium, Christopher's supportive family sat in the front row. Oliver, Elio, Jona, Annella, Jude, Nan, Mark, Stan, and Diane. These were the people that Christopher loved the most in the world minus a few. They watched as Christopher walked to the podium. He thanked teachers and staff, gave love and support to some of his fellow classmates. The next part pulled at everyone's heartstrings.

"Next, I'd like to take a moment on behalf of myself and my fellow graduates to thank the people that have brought us here.

I'd like to thank my parents my dad Oliver, raised me to not take life for granted and if you want something run toward it, but with clothes on because I was apparently a nudist until the age of 6.

My papa Elio came into my life two years ago and has taught me more in these two years than I could learn in a lifetime, he also taught me all the Italian, French and German swear words which is helpful believe it or not.

I'd like to thank my Math teacher, Ms. Jackson, who drilled into my head "Getting the right answer isn't everything. How you get it is important. So show me your stinking work!

I'd also like to thank my Nonna, Annella Perlman she taught me Italian which has come in really handy if you know what I mean. And she also taught me that love is a powerful thing and that if you find it hold onto it as tight as you can.

My best friend Jude who I've got to thank more than anything, we've known each other nearly our entire lives. You know all my secrets and all of my dreams, you also have more dirt on me than anyone else so if you ever tell anyone, I'll tell your dad what really happened to his car. I'm only joking I swear Mr. Foster we didn't do it.

Finally, I'd like to take a moment to remember our classmates and teachers who are not with us today.

We all miss our friend Jenny Wilson. She was a wonderful sister and daughter, a great friend, and the best cheerleader on the squad. We also miss our teacher, Mr. Carson. Mr. Carson didn't allow us to show up late in his class. And we loved him for his humor. No one went through his class unchanged for the better.

So now we're high school graduates. And soon we're going to be signing each others' yearbooks and saying goodbye. There will be hugs and tears. We'll do our best to stay in touch. But we'll be living our lives and doing our best.

As a final thought going forward, I'd like to leave you with a quote from my late grandfather who sadly I never got to meet Professor Samuel Perlman, it was a speech he gave my papa when he was my age and lost in the world.